Shielded connection



Dec. 6, 1949 A. MORRIS SHIELDED CONNECTION Filed March 27, 1946 INVENTOR file/ram! /%/rr1;s

HTTORNEY Patented Dec. 6, 1949 SHIELDED CONNECTION Alexander Morris, P. R. Mallory &

Indianapolis, Ind., asslznor to 00., Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Application March 27, 1946, Serial Nuts-1,410

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a connection for a shielded wire and, more particularly, to a connection for positively gripping and retaining the shielded portions of the wire in position upon the device to which the wire is attached while permitting the conductor portions of the wire to be readily and easily connected in circuit.

It isan object of the invention to improve the construction and operation of connections for shielded wires.

Other'objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings taken in connection with the appended claims.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, arrangement of parts, and methods of manufacture referred to above or which will be brought out and exemplified in the disclosure hereinafter set forth, including the illustrations in the drawings, the scope of the invention being indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a sectional view, partially in elevation, showing a shielded wire or cable provided with the novel connections in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is an inverted plan view of one of the connections shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the metal shield-retaining pieces.

Heretofore, when a shield Wire has been terminated at a panel or plate such as the chassis of a radio set, for example, or a metal shield can, it has usually been the practice to solder the end of the shield to the plate, the conductor portions of the wire extending through a passage or hole formed in the plate to a connection or terminal at the other side thereof. Diiiiculties have been experienced with this construction in that a poor soldered electrical connection is often obtained between the shield and the plate which may result in the generation of noises and other undesirable effects. In addition, the soldering operation must oftentimes take place in a crowded or inaccessible part of the set. The soldered joint has a tendency to become loose with the result that the shield may in time be disconnected from the plate, Attempts and proposals have been made to overcome this difficulty by providing a connection in which the shielded end of the wire is gripped between a flanged ferrule and an insulating gland of resilient material 2 which are supported within a sleeve threaded to the casing of the chassis. However, the shield has a tendency to slip out from between the forrule and the gland when this construction is used and the parts required for such a connection are rather complicated and expensive to manufacture. It has also been proposed to extend the shielded portion of the wire through the chassis and grip the ends of such shielded portion between the chassis and an interior shielding plate or other portion of the set. This construction has not proven altogether satisfactory since the shielded end of the wire is gripped interiorly of the chassis between two relatively flat plates with the result that it is difiicult to apply suflicient pressure to such fiat plates to effectively retain the wire therebetween. Difficulties also arise with this construction in assembling and adjusting the flat plates from within the chassis.

In accordance with this invention, the end of the shield is gripped between flared portions formed upon a pair of metal pieces secured to the exterior of the plate or chassis with the result that the aforementioned ditliculties are eliminated or substantially minimized. Thus, the shield is positively retained in position and grounded without the necessity of providing any soldered v connections. The only necessary machine operations are those of drilling or punching a passage in the plate together with one or more bore holes for receiving rivets, screws or other means for securing the metal pieces to the chassis. In this manner, a very simple and effective means is provided for terminating a shielded wire, with the end of the shield securely held in position upon the supporting plate and the shield positively grounded to the chassis while the conductor portions of the wire may extend through the plate or panel for connection to a tube or other device within the set.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a chassis, shield can, or other part to which the shielded wire extends is indicated by a panel or plate In in which a passage l I for receiving a wire is formed as by drilling or punching. A plurality of bores l2 are formed in the plate l0 and said bores are closely spaced with respect to the passage H for the purpose of mounting the metal connection pieces hereinafter described.

'A plate of insulating material I3 is secured to the underside of the plate III as by screws Ida which extend through the bores H, the insulation plate l3 having a central passage I which is substantially in alignment with the passage H.

suitable screw connection for holding the conductor portion of a shielded wire.

In accordance with the invention, a pair of punched metal pieces I9, 20 are secured to the plate by the screws l4 and the metal pieces have complementary upstanding conically flared portions 2| which overlie the passage I I. The flared portions 2| are drilled or punched as at 22 for receiving a shielded wire 23 and the holes or passages at 22 are substantially in alignment with the passage II. The end of the shielded portion 24 of the wire 23 is gripped between the flared portions 2| as indicated at 25, said flared portions engaging and positively retaining the shielded end portions therebetween to thereby afiord a positive mechanical and electrical connection between the shield and the chassis. The conductor portions of the wire, which are covered by insulating material 30, extend through the aligned passages ll, 22 and through the base of the lug l for connection thereto as by a screw mounted within the threaded passage in the lug.

In the light of the foregoing description, it will be obvious that the shielded end portion of the wire may be readily placed between the flared portions 2| after which the metal pieces I9, 20 may be secured to the plate and the shield positively gripped therebetween by tightening the screws M. In the example shown, the screws are held, respectively, by clinch nuts 3| which are spun in suitable openings formed in the plate 20, this arrangement avoiding the necessity of utilizing a nut and lock washer to positively retain the metal pieces in position upon the plate. This construction is also advantageous in that the metal pieces may be preassembled with the eyelets and clinch nuts in order to provide for convenient application by the user. It will be apparent that the plate I0 may itself be shaped to form a flared portion having a passage drilled or punched therein for reception of the shielded wire. When this construction is utilized, it is only necessary to provide a single metal piece as at 20, the flared portion of which cooperates and is complementary with the flared portion of the plate- Ill for gripping and retaining the shielded portion of the wire. It will be apparent that the novel shielded connection provides a shield which is continuously grounded to an area of the plate or chassis extending completely around the wire thus preventing any transient high frequency voltages or spray' from interfering with the circuit in the vicinity of the connection. Moreover, the connection device iseffective to prevent strain of the conductor portions of the wire since the mechanical support of the wire on the plate or chassis is effected solely by the end portions of the shield which are clamped between the flared portions 2|.

It will be understood that the invention is applicable to securing and terminating shielded wire at a shield can or at any other circuit component. Thus, as indicated in Figure 1, the connection may be made to a shield can as at 35 which is suitably punched or drilled to receive the shielded wire 23 and metal pieces 19, similar to those already described. In this case, the metal pieces may be retained in position upon the shield can by screws 36, each of which is provided with a nut 31 and a lock washer 38. It will be apparent that the invention is not confined to the use of screws for supporting the metal pieces as rivets or any other suitable means for retaining the metal pieces on the plate may be utilized for this purpose, such rivets or other suitable fasteners being efiective to engage and retain the end portion of the shield between the flared portions of the metal pieces and exert pressure on such flared portions to aflord a good electrical and mechanical connection between the shield and the supporting plate. It will be seen that a very simple and efiective connection for a shielded wire is provided without the necessity for soldering the shield to the chassis and without the use of complicated parts.

While the present invention, as to its objects.

.of bores closely spaced to said passage, a lug secured to said plate, the base portions of said lug having a centralized recess and extending into said passage, a pair of punched metal. pieces each having a conically flared portion overlying said passage, and means cooperating'with said bores to retain said metal pieces on said wall on the shielded wire side and to force said flared portions into engagement with each other to thereby positively retain and grip the end shielded portions of said shielded wire between the conical portions of said pair of metal pieces, said conductor being connected to said lug.

2. In a connection for a shielded cable having an insulated solid inner conductor exposed at one end for an insulative passage through a metal plate having a relatively large aperture and smaller bores spaced therefrom, an insulative plate with a smaller aperture for alignment with the aperture of said metal plate on the side thereof opposite said cable, said insulative plate having a plurality of bores closely spaced to said aperture, a lug clamped to said insulative plate through the aperture thereof, said lug including a socket for the exposed end of said conductor, a pair of apertured metal pieces disposed on the cable side of said metal plate and each having a conically flared portion with bores alignable with the bores of said metal and insulative plates respectively, and means cooperating with said bores to retain said metal conical pieces and said insulative plate on said metal plate and to force said flared portions into engagement with each other to thereby positively retain and grip an end outer shield portion of said cable therebetween.

' 3. A coupling for a shielded wire having an end of an inner conductor insulatively carried through an aperture in a shielding panel comprising an apertured insulative plate for placement on one side of said panel with said respective apertures aligned, a terminal mounted on said plate for insulative support from said panel, a pair of generally conical-shaped metal pieces with flanges forplacement on the other side of said panel, each of said pieces having an aperture registerable with said aperture in said shielding 5 panel, and means to retain said pair of metal pieces and said insulative plate on opposite sides of said panel with the apertures thereof in a predetermined arrangement and to force said flanges into engagement with each other thereby to positively grip the end shield portion of said shielded wire between the cone portion of said pieces and to align said terminal with said inner conductor.

ALEXANDER MORRIS. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bride Mar. 20, 1883 Robischon Nov. 8, 1904 Forbes May 29, 1934 Redinger July 6, 1937 Purat Mar. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1915 Great Britain of 1915 

